New Rochelle Senior Building Inspector Demoted For Falsifying Inspection Report to Cover for Mother-in-Law

NEW ROCHELLE, NY -- A building inspector in New Rochelle has his mother-in-law to thank for a demotion and 10 grand pay cut.

Joseph Guglielmo was demoted from Senior Building Inspector to Code Enforcement Officer by the City of New Rochelle, with a corresponding reduction in pay of just over $10,000 a year (from $103,976.08 to $93,259.92, based on pay records obtained under a Freedom of Information request). The demotion occurred in August 2017 but was based on a 2012 inspection which recently came to light after City officials received anonymous complaints.

In 2012, Guglielmo was assigned to inspect a property at 192 Drake Avenue owned by Sarah Ann Cardone (Miceli) following a complaint filed on July 20, 2012 of an illegal attic apartment. A second complaint was filed on March 7, 2013 of an illegal basement apartment. A series of complaints was also filed for 188 Drake Avenue. Both properties are listed as two-family homes owned by Sarah Ann Cardone.

Guglielmo failed to disclose that Sarah Ann Cardone is his wife’s mother.

Guglielmo went to 192 Drake Avenue on August 29, 2012 and September 5, 2012. He filed a report on October 3, 2012 stating “No Violation Found”. The report included photographs of the attic taken from selective angles to obscure that the attic was an apartment. The report did not respond to the claim there was an illegal basement apartment.

On January 15, 2017, a complaint was filed with the City of New Rochelle, alleging that Sarah Ann Cardone (Miceli) is Joseph Guglielmo’s mother-in-law. The complaint alleged that Guglielmo’s wife had bragged that “No one will dare come to our homes…My husband is a Senior Inspector.” The complaint included records of Cardone advertising the illegal apartments online.

On February 17, 2017, Notices of Violation were issued by Lisa Davis for both 188 Drake Avenue and 192 Drake Avenue for the illegal apartments in both buildings. When the violations were not addressed, a series of Court Appearance Tickets were issued by Davis in April 2017 for both properties. More Court Appearance Tickets were issued in September and October 2017.